Comment by generalizations
3 years ago
This is why legal documents often have important definitions listed. In the last case, the answer hinges on the definition of “machine”. Pick a definition of that, and I’ll tell you if a boat is a vehicle.
3 years ago
This is why legal documents often have important definitions listed. In the last case, the answer hinges on the definition of “machine”. Pick a definition of that, and I’ll tell you if a boat is a vehicle.
Let's stick with the Cambridge dictionary:
> a piece of equipment with several moving parts that uses power to do a particular type of work
How many oars is "several"? Do they count if they're not physically affixed to the boat?
Continuing to stick with the Cambridge Dictionary.
> ((a piece of (the set of necessary tools, clothing, etc. for a particular purpose) with (some; an amount that is not exact but is fewer than many) moving parts that uses power to do a particular type of work) used for transporting people or goods)
Yup, that's technically a rowboat - as long as it has oars included (whether or not they're physically attached: "set of"). Take the oars out of the equation, and it's not a machine anymore...just a piece of a vehicle (like how a tire isn't a car).
This definition excludes cars, right? “Many” is pretty vague, but I think we can agree it describes the number of moving parts in a car.